2021 Annual Report

Therapy and Clinical Services This year over 3,470 First Steps for Autism Early Intervention Program

Social Skills Groups Our range of social skills groups are designed to develop social skills for children, adolescents and adults with Autism, including self-awareness, communication and friendships. This year we developed a new curriculum for different age groups. We also introduced social skills groups delivered in the context of a range of social interests including theatre groups and gaming groups such as ‘Dungeons and Dragons’. Following the success of our Koder Club, a computer coding group for teenagers, we expanded to 10 groups across 5 locations and 4 online groups. The Social Adventurer afterschool groups also continued with 49 groups across 9 locations providing weekly support to 340 children across the year. PEERS for Young Adults also expanded to 4 groups this year. We also established PEERS Discovery; a group to assist young people in making and maintaining friendships. We completed the final stages of the KONTAKT Teens research project with Curtin Autism Research Group this year. As a result of the successful outcomes of this project, we now offer KONTAKT Teens social skills groups as a part of our regular Therapy Group Program. We successfully completed the pilot for the KONTAKT Kids Social Skills Curriculum for children 8 to 12 years. A second round of research has now commenced in collaboration with the Stan Perron Foundation, Karolinska Institute Sweden and the Curtin Autism Research Group. TASTEETeam The Autism Specific Team of Everything to do with Eating (TASTEE) has expanded and continues to provided highly specialised mealtime supports for complex mealtime needs for individuals with Autism. This year the specialist team provided services focusing on improving quality of life and safety for people with Autism through state and national partnerships.

individuals were supported by our specialist teams.We expanded services in all program areas across our 9 service hubs throughout the metropolitan area, including a range of new social skills groups to support individuals of all ages.

The First Steps for Autism Early Intervention Program provided multidisciplinary support to 952 children up to 7 years this year. The Program is based on a wide body of international research and operates with an experienced team, including Speech Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, Psychologists, and Early Childhood Educators. The aim of this Program is to maximise child development and inclusion in mainstream settings with a focus on communication, social interaction, early childhood skills, as well as other individual needs. With the continued growth of Therapy and Clinical Services, this year we opened a third site in Midland to accommodate demand for services. School Age Service The School Age Therapy Team continued to provide a comprehensive range of support to children and adolescents between 8 and 17 years, with a total of 1,585 children and adolescents who were provided with a range of individual supports. We expanded the School Age Therapy Team this year to include Inclusion Facilitators and Educators who are passionate about supporting students with Autism in school. Our School Age Therapy Team continued to work in close collaboration with the education sector to support a collaborative and successful transition into National Disability Services. Our partnership with the Education Department included developing successful models of collaboration and creating frameworks for Therapists to embed goals into individual education plans to create better outcomes for students. Our Team also worked this year on preparing teens for transition into adult life within a community setting. This includes a range of dedicated fun groups and individual programs focusing on developing friendships, expanding networks and exploring new interests.

Autism Association of Western Australia - Annual Report 2021 20